The Rose That Meant Serious Trouble for a Reputed Burlington County Surgeon

Mateo, a patient from Pennsauken, has filed a law suit against her orthopedic surgeon, Steven Kirshner of "rubbing a temporary tattoo of a red rose" on her stomach, during a surgery, when she was in an unconscious state.

The law suit has sought compensatory damages from Steven Kirshner, who is a certified orthopedic surgeon in Burlington County.

It was only a day after the surgery that Mateo discovered the presence of a rose tattoo below her panty line. This left her disturbed, worried and at a loss of what might have occurred in the operation theatre.

According to Kirshner's lawyer, Robert Agre, his client did not disagree to placing the tattoo, and even confessed to having placed other types of temporary marks on patients just to perk up their spirits. So far, he had received no complaints from any of his patients.

"What's offensive about this complaint is that it suggests something he did was intended to be prurient, and nothing could be further from the truth," said Agre. "It was intended just to make the patient feel better."

Art Caplan, chairman of the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Medicine's Department of Medical Ethics, said, "You cannot do something like this even as a joke. If it's true, she's got a case." Caplan rattled out news reports of other cases where physicians left a mark on patients' bodies as markers for incision during a surgery.

Confirming the clean reputation of the doctor, and defending his client, the attorney said, "Most of the patients are delighted by Dr. Kirshner's sense of humor and is renowned as a jovial guy and regarded as a doctor who has terrific relations with his patients and with his staff. The marks are like children's tattoos. Kids put them on themselves and they wash right off."

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